Ime Udoka rejects the idea of benching Jalen Green

Following the Houston Rockets’ loss to the Indiana Pacers, coach Ime Udoka was asked about the possibility of moving Jalen Green to a bench role due to his recent struggles. Udoka responded that, despite Green’s challenges, he is not considering such a change.

Acknowledging the impact of Green’s performance on the team’s offensive struggles, Udoka expressed the intention to maintain Green’s confidence, work on improvement in specific areas, and believe that Green will eventually make significant progress.

“Obviously, with [Green] playing that way, if he was playing the other way we obviously wouldn’t struggle as much offensively and have to lean on other guys as much or play other guys minutes,” Udoka said postgame.

“We’ll continue to keep him confident, continue to [help] him improve in certain areas, and he’ll take a jump eventually.”

In the subsequent game against the Phoenix Suns, Green continued in the starting lineup, contributing 23 points on 8-of-20 shooting in a losing effort for the Rockets.